Fideuram Asset Management Ireland dac Takes $1.80 Million Position in Southern Company (The) $SO

Key Points

• Fideuram Asset Management Ireland dac opened a new position in Southern Company, buying 20,132 shares valued at about $1.8 million in the fourth quarter.
• Southern’s CEO Kimberly S. Greene and EVP Christopher Cummiskey both sold shares recently, with Greene selling 25,000 shares for about $2.42 million and Cummiskey selling 6,669 shares for about $644,000.
• The utility reported better-than-expected quarterly results and raised its dividend to $0.76 per share; analysts currently have a Hold consensus with an average price target of $99.38.

Fideuram Asset Management Ireland dac purchased a new stake in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 20,132 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,800,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cloud Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Southern during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Triumph Capital Management acquired a new position in Southern during the third quarter worth about $29,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new position in Southern during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in Southern during the third quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID acquired a new position in Southern during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 25,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.67, for a total transaction of $2,416,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 103,602 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,015,205.34. This trade represents a 19.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 6,669 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.55, for a total value of $643,891.95. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 30,800 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,973,740. The trade was a 17.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on SO. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, April 10th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $102.00 target price on shares of Southern in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $104.00 target price on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, May 1st. KeyCorp raised Southern from an "underweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Evercore upgraded Southern from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $111.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $99.38.

Southern Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of SO opened at $92.06 on Friday. The business's 50-day moving average price is $94.61 and its 200 day moving average price is $91.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $103.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.36. Southern Company has a 1-year low of $83.80 and a 1-year high of $100.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.07 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.64% and a net margin of 14.46%.Southern's revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.23 EPS. Analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 18th. This is a boost from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. Southern's dividend payout ratio is 77.35%.

Southern Company Profile

Southern Company NYSE: SO is an Atlanta-based energy holding company that provides electric and gas utility services and owns power generation assets across the United States. Founded in 1945, the company operates a portfolio of regulated electric utilities and affiliated businesses that generate, transmit and distribute electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

Southern's principal regulated electric subsidiaries include Georgia Power, Alabama Power and Mississippi Power, which serve large portions of the southeastern United States.

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